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Art of Gold - The Process 

Materials Required and Board  Preparation :

The base is  a  thick  hardboard , the thickness  has to be appropriately selected to avoid warpage of the board . The board has to be cut to the required size  as per the drawing to be made . A thick cardboard which is also cut to the same size as the board is pasted on the board and on it the white 'Kora' cloth is pasted .The  board  is  prepared  by  using a mixture of chalkpowder and adhesive uniformly applied on the board . After a little drying the preparation is  rubbed  with sand- paper to give a smooth finish to the board. Usually it  takes a day or two to prepare the board since the board has to dry out before further use , obviously it also depends on the size  of the board . Once the board surface is dried out and a good smooth finish obtained , it is ready for the drawing stage.Considering the amount of manual work and labour involved in board preparation, nowadays ready made boards are also stocked in the shops which market these paintings.

Plyboard  prepared as above ready for drawing.

Drawing and  Gessore work :

The drawing is then  transferred / sketched on to the board . A paste of chalk powder with a strong adhesive is used  to do the gessore work , which gives a three   dimensional effect and then the stones are embedded into the gessore work.Original paintings of yester years used to have original precious stones .However nowadays only  imitations for precious stones or their look alikes and other attractive glass stones  are  placed for the jewellery and other decorations . However  gold sheets continue to be used even today and once the gessore work is ready the gold sheets  are pasted over the jewellery , decorations etc.Pearls are added  to give a finishing touch .

After Gessore work for stone inlay and final painting.

Painting :

The color painting  is done with poster colors. Only traditional colors like red , green , rust , yellow , brown , black  are used following the age old practice . Dark outlines are put around the gold sheets to give depth to the painting. 

Painting ready for framing

Picture Frame :

After the painting is completed the painting is framed  for display .The type of frame selected for the painting is as important as the process of painting itself , 

since the frames enhance the beauty of the painting. The frame also protects the painting from dust and termites . Frames can be of different types like Antique look ( Gives an antique look ) , teak   wood regular    ( Conventional look ) ,  Double  border  frame   ( Gives a much bigger look to  the painting  and also a contrast ), Gold frame ( To match with the gold leaves used in the painting ) , Jharokha frame ( Gives a  3 D effect and also antique look ) etc .The prices  of the frames vary significantly depending upon the type of frame chosen.

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